CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The unspent P9.8-billion allocation in the 2020 budget of the Department of Agriculture could have easily provided the P15,000 production subsidy to some 650,000 farmers and fishermen.
So lamented the fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya).
The Commission on Audit last week flagged the DA for failing to spend over P9.8 billion in its allocations, committing accounting errors, and accumulating unliquidated expenses amounting to P17.5 billion.
In its annual audit report, COA said the DA was unable to utilize 16.6 percent of its P59-billion cash allocation for 2020, leading to the agency returning P9.8 billion to the national treasury instead of using it for programs intended for farmers.
Pamalakaya said that along with rural-based progressive groups, they have been seeking a P15,000 subsidy intended for livelihood and production expenses to “pump-prime the wheels of production of the marginalized fisherfolk and farmers amid the Covid-19 pandemic accompanied with burdensome quarantine restrictions.”
“The subsidy that we have been seeking could have stimulated the production of more than 600,000 rural-based food producers. The unstable food supply and prices in the market could have been avoided if the government heeded the demand of the country’s food security front liners,” said Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya national chairman.
The production subsidy proposal was filed by the Makabayan bloc in Congress under House Bill 9192.
Pamalakaya said the agricultural production subsidy for fishers will be allotted mostly for fuel expenses, which eat up almost 80 percent of the cost of a regular fishing trip.
The group asked DA to explain to the public the surplus funds supposedly for the welfare of farmers and fishermen. This, even as it urged the DA to maximize its remaining budget for the year in the form of a subsidy to strengthen agricultural and fisheries production.
“Apart from the explanation, the DA is morally and mandatorily compelled to strengthen local food production via support to farmers and fishers to ensure domestic food security amid the public health crisis,” added Hicap. With PR
